Behold! The Ultimate Highway Widening

Behold, the “ultimate” highway widening. Seriously, that is actually the word Florida DOT officials used to describe it, and they may not be exaggerating:

This highway engineering nightmare is the new-and-improved I4. It is where the Obama Administration once tried to build a new high-speed rail line. Governor Scott killed the train idea, because he said it would cost Florida taxpayers too much (even though it was fully funded by the Feds).

The I4 widening will cost a whopping $2.1 billion for just 21 miles. And whereas Florida taxpayers would not have had to pay anything for the train, they will pay at least half the cost of the highway project. The rest of the funding is supposed to come from a PPP tolls. And given the dismal record of PPP-funded highways, taxpayers should expect to pay even more.

Florida, where it’s legal to shoot someone just because you feel scared.

Florida will go bankrupt in the next big hurricane. Why? Because the real cost of flood insurance causes real pain. So the state stepped in to offer insurance an below-market rates. So much for the free market…

Florida, where it’s illegal to talk about (or plan for) global warming in the state government. Where the solution to rising seas and shrinking beaches is to build even more beachfront condos.